Potted film reviews by Gary Anthony Cross

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

A pair of wanted bank robbers hijack an ex-pastor and his children on their way to Mexico, only to find themselves trapped in a strip joint full of vampires.

The first collaboration between Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, From Dusk Till Dawn is half twisted road movie, half schlock horror with a wide streak of humour; Grindhouse beta in other words. It’s also the film that made the male population finally understand the fuss about George Clooney, whose fantastic performance as Seth Gecko turned him from soap star into Mr. Coolest Of The Cool almost overnight. He’s ably supported by Tarantino as his psychotic, delusional baby brother and Harvey Keitel as the hard-nosed preacher, as well as some nice cameos from Fred (Black Caesar) Williamson and special effects supremo Tom Savini. There’s plenty of Tarantino’s amusing hard-boiled dialogue and the action scenes are splatter at it’s most frantic and funny. It may feel a little schizophrenic as it’s essentially two stories stitched together, but both work brilliantly and it’s a riot from beginning to end.

From Dusk Till Dawn suffers slightly for a dated score and the climax is slightly weak, but it’s still one of my favourite vampire films and worth the admission price for Salma Hayek’s jaw dropping burlesque turn alone.